The Winds of Change
by Livexthexmagic
Summary: When Zuko and Aang discover a plan to return Zuko to the Fire Nation, the plan fails and Zuko now travels with the trio. See what other craziness ensues! [ON HIATUS]
1. Prologue

Oh my God! I'm writing Avatar Fan Fiction! Usually I write Harry Potter, but I have always loved Avatar, but lately I have become absolutely obsessed with Avatar, so here we are. My brother and I both created this fan fiction and I'm posting it on the behalf of both of us. We came up with the idea and we both helped write it, so I hope you enjoy! Just to let you know this is set quite a few episodes in the future. It's rated K+ for now but it may be upgraded to T later.

Disclaimer: My brother and I don't own Avatar (though we wish we did) and we are not making any money off of this fan fiction (though we wish we were :P)

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"Avatar, we meet again." Zuko growled, getting into a fighting stance. Aang put his staff out in front of him in a defensive stance, but he withdrew and put his staff back by his side.

"I don't want to fight you, Zuko!" he decided. Zuko threw a flame at Aang. Aang dodged them and yelled out again, "Zuko! I don't want to fight!" Zuko yelled angrily and threw another flame. "Please!" Aang shouted, "Why do you want to capture me so badly? Can't you just let your sister or the army to do it?" He had never understood why Zuko had such an obsession with his capture. Zuko yelled again in anger.

"My honor rests on your capture, I have to prove myself, but I don't want to talk about it." Zuko growled throwing another ball of fire of Aang.

"Please! Stop! I have an idea!" Aang cried.

"You have five seconds, and if it's good we'll stop fighting, if it's bad you'll be dead meat."

"Actually, I don't eat meat, all monks—"

"Aang, don't push it." Katara hissed.

After a little while of planning they were finishing up the last details.

"—and your home, I'm free and everyone's happy!" Aang finished.

"Alright, I still don't like you, but it might work, but don't try anything tricky."

"If there's anyone who would do anything tricky it would be you! How do we know you'll keep your promise?"

"You'll just have to trust me," Zuko said.

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My brother and I would really like some feedback and/or any constructive criticism! Reviews are greatly appreciated:D

**-Kat **


	2. Putting the Plan Into Action

Well, no one has reviewed but it's only been up for a few minutes, but we're bored and we'll go ahead and post for the heck of it.

6/17/06 - UPDATEEEE! LOOK HERE! Due to a few reviews saying what could be wrong with this scenario I have updated it and redone quite a bit to make this more realistic! I hope this solves some problems!

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Disclaimer: As you see were just a bunch of kids so we don't really own Avatar, but if we did we would have our own paparazzi sitting outside our door so we wouldn't have time to do this! Probably not, but oh well here's the post!

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They all watched the city from a distance, the palace protruding into the sky.

"Now all we have to do is figure out how we get in." Katara said surveying the city walls.

"We can't just walk in, the guards will surround us before we can get to the palace." Sokka assumed.

"I might know just the thing," Zuko declared, "follow me." They followed Zuko around the city walls. Soon they were directly behind the city, they were in a meadow. "Just as I remember it." Zuko mumbled to himself. "When we were young and we got along, my sister and I found this place. We would spend hours playing in here, and the best part about it was no one could ever find us. But that was then. Someone could have easily found it by now, but the one thing no one could ever find was this." Zuko said, pointing to a wide stump in the middle.

"A stump?" Sokka asked surprised.

"See, no one would ever guess…" he trailed off. He put his hand down and put it under the stump and pulled up on it. There was a hole there.

"It's a secret passage from here to our playroom, which conveniently is next to the throne room where my father should be." Zuko told them.

"And your point is?" Sokka asked.

"You and your sister can hide there and be ready to help the Avatar escape and while you go down the passage the Avatar and I can go in around the front," Zuko explained, "This was wide enough for my sister and I to go through side by side, now it should fit you if you go in single file." Zuko said. Sokka and Katara nodded.

"Alright, we'll meet you in there," Aang promised Katara and Sokka as they disappeared into the passage. Swiftly, they made their way around front. Before leaving the coverage of the trees Zuko tied Aang's hands together loosely. Zuko grabbed Aang's shoulder and walked him up to the doors of the city.

"Halt! What is your business here, _exiled _prince?" the guard asked rudely. _They're pretty stupid; can't they see the Avatar in my hands?_ Zuko thought.

"I have captured the Avatar," Zuko exclaimed, "I'm here to regain my honor."

"Very well," the guard said. Two other guards appeared from nowhere. "You will be escorted in."

They moved through the city and before long the palace loomed before them.

Katara and Sokka moved through the dark passageway, ducking and keeping their hands on the walls to feel when there was a turn. Soon they came to a pile of old toys that looked like it was a staircase that was small enough for toddlers to easily climb up. But Sokka could reach the top of the passage and lifted the lid off and hopped up. Sokka grabbed Katara's hand and helped her up. They came to a dark room with cobwebs. It hadn't been used in a very long time. Toys stared down at them, old and a few of them with burns.

"I hope we don't have to stay here long, this is giving me the creeps." Katara said wincing at the spooky playroom.

"Sir, Prince Zuko is here." A guard told Ozai.

"He better have a good reason for entering the nation he was exiled from!" Ozai exclaimed.

"He says he has the Avatar."

"Very well, show him in."

The doors at the end of the hall opened and Zuko walked in with Aang in front of him, with his hands tied behind his back.

"Father, I have the Avatar!" Zuko exclaimed.

"At least my son is good for something. Guards!" Ozai ordered. The guards grabbed Aang.

"Now, if you'll excuse me I have some business to attend to in the palace."

"I don't think so."

"I'm welcomed back right? I have captured the Avatar haven't I?"

"You fool! You're still exiled; didn't you ever realize that you would never be welcomed home? Now that I have the Avatar, I can finally win this war!" Ozai exclaimed happily. Zuko narrowed his eyes and released a breath of fire. He ran up and put his fist in his father's face.

"I CAPTURED THE AVATAR! ACCEPT ME BACK TO THE NATION!"

"You will never be accepted here."

"Alright, I understand your decision." Zuko said calmly. Zuko started to run and did a kick and it burned half of the guards. Aang easily broke free the loosely tied rope. It had been apart of the plan. Zuko would give Aang to Ozai and Aang would escape making it look like he escaped on his own. Except Zuko was supposed to be welcomed home and then Aang escaped without it being Zuko's fault. Aang blew back some of the guards with a wave of air toward the guards and Zuko threw a ball of fire towards some more. Katara and Sokka broke through the doors, ready to help Aang escape. Katara grabbed her pouch filled with water and water whipped some of the other guards, and Sokka threw his boomerang and knocked some other guards out.

"Aang, hurry the door!" Katara exclaimed. Katara, Sokka and Aang ran through the door before it was entirely blocked by flames and Zuko followed leaving the blazing room. On the outside of the palace the four caught their breath. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Aang sighed. "Zuko?"

"I'm fine." Zuko growled. Guards erupted from the palace.

"There they are!" one cried.

"Come on!" Katara cried running towards the shape of the large flying bison. Aang, Katara and Sokka got on and Zuko stood there.

"Zuko! Come on!" Aang cried. Zuko narrowed his eyes in dismay of the giant animal. Momo jumped down and grabbed his pants leg trying to get him onto Appa and Zuko just kicked him. "Zuko! I'm sorry our plan didn't work but if those guards catch us they'll kill us!" Aang yelled. Zuko looked back at the guards trying to decide to leave his home and go with his enemies or stay and fight.

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**All right, we decided to be evil and not post again till we get a reviewer! MUHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, you get the point review! OR YOU'LL NEVER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO ZUKO!**

**MUHAHAHA! (If you aren't smart enough to figure it out it's in the summary, but please review! Lol :P)**


	3. Escape

**Alright! I finally figured out the Documents Manager! Thanks for bearing with us. How did everyone like last nights episode? UNCLE LIVES! YAY! We were both really happy when we found out he did live. Anyway…thanks to our reviewers lying-with-a-smile, Kiko Kamia** **Gigawolf1! Thanks for the constructive criticism Gigawolf1, but if you look in the Avatar handbook on page 394 paragraph C subsection 3A…just kidding, we tried to go back and help the situation a little bit on this chapter but I don't think it will cover everything you said. As you can see this is our first Avatar fan fiction and we're just getting the hang of it; like I said, I'm used to writing Harry Potter fan fiction. But, yes, thank you for the constructive criticism, that's what makes our story great! And sorry lying-with-a-smile! We must have updated and the review was still making it's way through the website…you know how slow those reviews go :P. Ok, here's the post!**

**6/14/06 – I also updated a little bit of this, not a whole lot though, more in the last chapter.**

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**Disclaimer: We do not own Avatar and it's probably a good thing we didn't:P**

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Zuko looked back at the guards trying to decide to leave his home and go with his enemies or stay and fight but they couldn't fight, there were to many of them. There were at least a thousand swordsmen and tons of archers waiting to fire. Aang tried to use his Airbending to defend himself but there were just to many of them. Aang was defeated and the guards grabbed him. He struggled against their strong hands to break free. The guards grabbed Katara, Sokka and Zuko. Katara was struggling as well to break free, they all were. He couldn't stand seeing his friends being captured. His blood started to boil and his tattoos started to glow. All of the sudden he went into the Avatar State and he was the most powerful he had ever been. Quickly, he unleashed all the Firebending he could achieve in the Avatar State and half of the guards fled for their lives. The guards still left tried to Firebend against Aang, but it was no use. Aang threw a wave of fire towards the guards. Then Aang turned his attention toward the guards that were holding his friends. The guards' eyes got wide in fright and Aang hit them with another fire blast, being careful not to hit Katara, Sokka, and Zuko. He started to slow down and his tattoos returned to their normal state. Katara picked him up and they all got onto Appa. Katara laid him down and Sokka got Appa into the air before the guards could call for any back up.

Zuko sat to himself at the very end of the saddle and watched below while Katara helped Aang.

"Are you alright, Aang?" Katara asked. Aang sat up and rubbed his head.

"I'm sorry, Katara." Aang said softly.

"Sorry? You saved our lives." Katara said.

"I broke a promise. I promised you would never have to see me in that state again." Aang whispered.

"You said you hoped I would never see you in that state again, you didn't promise. It's ok Aang, really." Katara soothed. Aang nodded and Katara went to go sit with Sokka. Aang and Zuko sat there for a little while before Aang broke the silence.

"Are you ok, Zuko?" Aang asked softly.

"I'm fine, Avatar, leave me alone." Zuko said softly. Aang remained silent for a little while and then started to talk in a soft voice.

"When I first learned that there was no more monks left, I broke down and I couldn't move. But I learned to move on…" Aang trailed off. He wasn't stupid enough to bring up that Zuko had no family he could go home to in the Fire Nation, he had been thinking of what he should say before he spoke.

"Maybe you can travel with us." Aang suggested. Zuko looked up at Aang and Aang gave Zuko a lop-sided grin. He wasn't sure; these people had been his enemies only a few days ago. But why had he been chasing the Avatar? Just to please his father and be welcomed back to the Nation but he knew that would never happen. Besides, the Avatar had just saved his life.

"Alright," Zuko agreed.

"Great," Aang smiled.

"You're alright, Avatar." Zuko smiled slightly.

"You're alright too, Zuko," Aang smiled, "and I _do _have a name, y'know, it's Aang."

"You're alright, Aang."

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**:D Yay! In case it was confusing, (my brother brought this up) Zuko does know Aang's name but he just didn't use it before. My brother thought for some odd reason that Zuko didn't know Aang's name so he just called him Avatar. All right, there's a post, it was sort of longer than the other one's but that's ok. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Let's just pretend that scenario works, lol. Please review to get us motivated to post another chapter:D We are leaving for Disneyland tomorrow so it depends if we have time or not to post. **

**-Kat and CT ( -- my brothers name fyi I don't think I've included that before lol)**


	4. Setting Up Camp

We're back from vacation! YAY! –crickets chirp- -ahem- Here's the next post!

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**Disclaimer: **What makes you think we own Avatar? That would be very scary if two stupid kids owned it. BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!

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After a bit more flying Zuko broke the silence.

"Where will we land for the night?" he asked.

"Where ever you think would be the best place to hide, you know the land better than the rest of us," Aang said taking out the map of the Fire Nation.

"Definitely, there," Zuko said pointing off the map, "it's the part where they never bothered to explore, that's why it isn't on the map."

When the sun started to set Aang took back over and landed Appa in one of the areas they had found on the map. When they landed Sokka got down and looked around. Quite a few meters away there was a smaller clearing that the trees sheltered.

"Over there. There's a clearing that's out of the way, perfect for camouflage from the Fire Nation." Sokka pointed.

"What about Appa? He certainly won't fit over there and if we leave him in the clearing the Fire Nation soldiers can easily see him!" Katara pointed out.

"See that over there? There's another small clearing, facing the camping site that looks about the right size for Appa." Sokka explained. They agreed and Katara gave everyone jobs.

"Aang, you can work on unloading Appa here and moving it into that clearing and then move Appa into his make shift stable. Sokka can prepare the fire pit, I'll prepare the food and can you get some firewood, Zuko?" Katara asked. They all set to work. Zuko hurried to find firewood so Katara could start dinner right away. Sokka started to dig a hole with his boomerang in the ground for the fire pit. After Appa was safely hidden in the clearing next to them and Zuko had gathered the firewood, Sokka and Zuko started to set up the wood in a way that it would last longer. Sokka argued that it would be best this way and Zuko argued it would be better another. Sokka and Katara still weren't very open to Zuko and still were unsure of his loyalty. Aang was a little more open and understanding. Aang explained it was because it was the Avatars job to unite the four nations. After compromising on which way to set the wood, Sokka picked up a bit of flint and a good flat stone to start the fire. But before Sokka could start Zuko shot a small flame into the kindling and the wood was ablaze within a few seconds.

"It's easier that way." Zuko said as he got up. Sokka just sat there.

"_It's easier that way!_ Pffttt…just being a rotten show-off." Sokka muttered. Katara set the food over the fire and they waited for it to cook. Zuko looked distractedly off into the forest.

"What's the matter?" Aang asked.

"I was just thinking…if the Fire Nation had decided to use this part of the forest since I was banished, it would be easy to see our campfire." Zuko explained.

"Aang, this is your chance to practice Earthbending! You can make a wall!" Katara told Aang. "Toph did tell you to practice, until she got back."

Toph, who had been Aang's Earthbending teacher, randomly liked to appear and disappear and always happened to find them again. Every time she would come back she would teach Aang something new and let him practice it while she went off to where ever she went.

"I'll see what I can do." Aang sighed as he got up and went to one side of the camp. He surveyed the ground and concentrated on it and he put out his hands in front of him. He closed his eyes since he was used practicing without sight as Toph had told him too. Aang raised his hands up to create a solid earth barrier. Soon a large rock wall surrounded the campsite and Appa. After they had eaten supper, Katara and Sokka got out their sleeping bags and Aang crawled up on Appa where he usually slept.

"Sorry we don't have a sleeping bag for you Zuko," Katara apologized.

"Your welcome to grab a piece of Appa and snuggle up!" Aang offered.

"I don't snuggle." Zuko stated. "I'll be fine," he told them.

"Alright, fine with me." Sokka said, and he turned over and fell asleep. Next, Katara and Aang soon fell asleep leaving Zuko awake. He lay next to the fire and gazed up at the stars through the box that the barriers had made.

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**Ok, just to clear up some things…this is supposed to be set quite a few episodes in the future, meaning Aang has mastered a little more Earthbending than just moving a rock. Also, the idea of Toph not traveling with them except for some of the time seemed to fit better with us, because we both see her as more rebellious and free. But, that probably won't happen in the actual show; we'll explain more about Toph's appearances and disappearances later. Anyway…please review! It would make us happy! See we want this :D not this :( Ok? Ok. So move your little mouse cursor yeah that little arrow thing down to the little button that says 'submit review'! Then you'll be happy, we'll be happy, everyone's happy! Except for the mouse cursor that is getting sick of clicking things and is about to go on strike. Ok, I'll shut up now.**

**Insanely yours,**

**-Kat**


	5. A Dream from Roku and Toph debuts

Hello to everyone! Thanks to our reviewers, lying-with-a-smile and madCello12! Thanks for the constructive criticism, and here is my reply:

**1) I'm planning on making them longer, but I've found good stopping places so but I promise I'll make this post longer and try to keep them that way.**

**2) Toph will be explained later, as will Uncle, he will be apart of the fan fiction don't worry; a fan fic wouldn't be a fan fic without Uncle!**

**3) Since people keep bringing up that they probably would be caught before they got there I have redone the chapter so please go back and read! Hopefully that might have solved the problems. **

**4) And last but not least, I just started an Avatar comedy before I went on my vacation. It's in my profile, called 'Sokka, the Play Writer?'**

**Thank you for the constructive criticism, I always love to hear what I can do to improve. With that said here is the next chapter! (Which hopefully will be longer ;D) **

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**Disclaimer: OK, EVERYONE knows we DO NOT own ATLA. We don't own, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Iroh, Toph……-rambles on and on-**

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That night, Avatar Roku visited Aang's dreams.

"Roku!" Aang called, "I think I have found a Firebending teacher!" He had been considering asking Zuko to help him learn Firebending, but not yet, he still needed to master Earthbending before he could fully start learning Firebending.

"Do not be so sure of yourself, Aang, I do not trust this Firebender." Roku said.

"I know he used to be bad but he's turning over a new leaf!" Aang explained. "I don't know if I will be able to find another teacher before the Summer Solstice." Aang said uncertainly.

"I'm sure you can if you find one if you look hard enough…" Roku started to fade and Aang gradually found himself staring at the bright stars that glowed above him. _That was one of the shortest dreams I've had with Roku, _Aang thought to himself. Aang sat up, suddenly noticing that Zuko was still awake sitting quietly gazing into the abyss fire. Aang slowly and silently walked over to Zuko.

"Hey…what's the matter, Zuko?" Aang asked.

"It's nothing really, only there's so many things that have happened in the last couple of days…it's just so confusing." Zuko replied, "I need to be alone." Zuko stood up and walked over to the corner of the walls surrounding them and laid his hand on the side of it. "Can we get a door we can enter and exit through?" he requested. Aang nodded and walked over to the barrier and pointed his hand toward the wall and pushed down; a gap appeared large enough for them to go through.

"Thanks," he said quietly and left through the door. Aang went back to Appa and fell asleep quickly.

As Aang started to wake and he realized the walls were down. Startled, he quickly Airbended his way down, off of Appa. He had his staff ready, when he realized the green robes of his Earthbending teacher, Toph, who had fixed her self a cup of tea.

"Hey there Twinkle Toes," she said quietly not wanting to wake anyone. She didn't turn around; of course she had felt him hit the ground. "Nice walls you made." Toph commented.

"Thanks," Aang said sitting down next to her. "How long are you here this time?" Aang asked her.

"Not very long I'm afraid," she replied staring ahead of her sipping her tea, "I can only stay for the morning, so I can't teach you anything new for today."

They stayed silent while Aang got his own tea.

"Where'd you pick him up?" Toph asked indicating to Zuko, she could feel his breathing through the ground.

"That's Prince Zuko, well, _banished _Prince Zuko, from the Fire Nation. We tried a plan out so he could be accepted back, so he wouldn't constantly be chasing us. So he acted as if he caught me and turned me in and then I would just escape later. Well, Fire Lord Ozai still didn't want him back so we just escaped and he just came with us." Aang explained. Toph nodded and finished her tea.

"I must be off, see you later Twinkle Toes." Toph said grabbing her bag and left, putting all the walls up with one single move. Aang sighed as he put away their cups and went to go start breakfast. He used up the last of their food supply; they would need to go to the market today. Aang turned back to the campsite and he found Zuko already up and restarting the fire.

"We'll need to go to the market today, we're out of food and you need to get a sleeping bag." Aang said. Zuko nodded as he sat back down by the fire. Aang started to prepare the breakfast and cook it over the fire just as he had seen Katara do it so many times. The smell of food cooking seemed to have woken Sokka and Katara was soon up after him.

"We'll need to go to the market to get more supplies, this is the last of our food." Aang informed the two. They nodded and grabbed some breakfast and sat down to eat. As soon as they finished Aang decided that he and Zuko should visit the marketplace in the village right outside the Fire Nation. They could hide their faces and avoid people's eyes and not cause any trouble.

"Why should you two go?" Sokka asked.

"Well, Zuko should get his own sleeping bag and he knows the marketplace better than any of us and I should go because I can handle myself if anything should happen." Aang explained.

"But we can't trust any of you with our money! Aang spends it on useless things and Zuko could just run off with it! I still don't think he's very trustworthy!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm right here." Zuko said noticing Sokka was talking about him as if he weren't there.

"Besides! That Buffalo Whistle wasn't a waste of money! It saved your sorry life!" Aang retorted. Sokka ignored both of them.

"If anyone should go it's Aang and I, I'm more trustworthy of handling the money and Aang can still handle himself if anything goes wrong; we can just pick up a sleeping bag for Zuko and get more supplies and be on our way, besides it's better to have only one criminal out in public than two."

"We're not criminals!" Aang and Zuko shouted.

"Well, you are to the Fire Nation!" Sokka fought back.

"I think it'll be fine with Zuko and Aang going to the marketplace, do you really think Zuko would run off with our money?" Katara asked.

"They still don't think we're here do they?" Zuko asked Aang, who shook his head.

"Yes! Yes, I do think he would run with our money! He's only befriended us for what? A day?" Sokka pointed out.

"Let me visit the marketplace and prove my loyalty to you!" Zuko replied.

"Alright, I'll give just enough money for you to get the sleeping bag and I'll give the money for supplies to Aang. But make sure he spends it on supplies and supplies _only!_" Sokka said giving them the money.

"Yes, _mother_." Aang scoffed at Sokka.

"This isn't the time to be arguing!" Katara yelled at the bickering group. Aang and Zuko put on their straw hats that covered their faces if they kept their heads down. "Just keep your heads down and speak only when you must, be careful." Katara said uneasily.

Stowing the money in their pockets and making sure it was secure, they took off into the forest for the small village of the Fire Nation only a few miles away.

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**YAY! Long chapter! Isn't everybody happy now? Lol, make sure you go back and reread the chapter after the prologue. Thanks, and please review!**

**-Kat **


	6. A Letter From Dear Old Dad

Hello everyone! So sorry we haven't posted in a while! We've been extremely busy and CT is going to camp next week so I'll be posting updates…if I update next week, which I hope too. Okie dokies, thank you to our reviewers madCello12, Rach and lying-with-a-smile! OMG I can't wait for Avatar: The Fury of Aang tonight! CT and I are counting down the minutes! Omgomgomggomgomg…ok here's the post.

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**Disclaimer: **We have no rights to Avatar just like we have no rights to any thing…

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After a half an hour of traveling swiftly and silently they arrived at a busy village. People were so busy that they didn't notice whom they were bumping into, so it was a good thing for Aang and Zuko. Finally, they made their way to the supply stall. As Aang started to look at things, the old creepy man that ran the stall stopped Zuko.

"Ar' you Zuko?" the old man grunted.

"Ah…er…" Zuko stuttered, not wanting to give away his identity.

"I won' tell on ya," he grumbled. "This is for ya." The old man gave Zuko a yellowed envelope. Quickly, he stashed it away before Aang could see. Zuko picked out a sleeping bag and went back to where Aang was picking up supplies.

"Got everything? What did the shop owner want? He didn't find out who we were, did he?" Aang asked all at once.

"I just asked him what was the best sleeping bag for our money." Zuko invented. "Alright, let's pay for this and go get the food."

Once, they paid Aang said, "Ok, I thought I saw a food stand around the corner."

They made their way to the food stand and got plenty of fruits and vegetables and different food items. Loading them into Aang's bag he brought, they took off through the forest, this time a little slower since they had supplies and food to weigh them down. They returned back to camp and unloaded the supplies.

"See, everything's here, here's the rest of the money left over, supplies, food and sleeping bag, all here, nothing stolen." Zuko showed Sokka.

"Hmmm…" Sokka surveyed the gear. "Nothing we didn't ask for, nothing missing." Sokka reported.

"See? I told you that Zuko wouldn't do anything!" Katara told her brother.

"Zuko is our friend now, you can trust him as much as you can trust me." Aang said. Aang turned back to Zuko, and Zuko slightly smiled at Aang. A million thoughts were going through Zuko's head. Never in his life had he had real friends. Now, he had friends who would stick up for him, friends whom he could talk to. He had never had a friend when he was little it was always he would hang out with his sister and her friends and his mother, but he never had friends of his own.

He had friends now.

That night after supper, everyone unrolled his or her sleeping bags and Aang crawled up onto Appa. As soon as everyone was asleep Zuko got out the letter he had received from the shop owner. On the front it said '_To My Dearest Son, Zuko' _and he took it out and read it to himself by firelight.

_My Dearest Son Prince Zuko,_

_I'm terribly sorry for the way acted towards you the other day. I seemed to have been in a bad mood and I have changed my mind. If you return the Avatar (and this time he _remains _captured) you will be welcomed home and the throne will be rightfully turned over to you. Kill the other two Water Tribe peasants, and capture the Avatar to bring him back. Come home, my son._

_Sincerely Your Loving Father,_

Fire Lord Ozai 

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DUN DUN DUNNNNN! A message from your local ice cream man, "Review for updates!" :P

-Kat & CT (for some reason I keep on leaving him out)


	7. Betrayal

Hey guys! Thanks to our reviewers…ahem…reviewer lying-with-a-smile! CT is back from camp and we've got some more for you so enjoy!

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**Discliamer: **We don't own Avatar or the Friendly Mushroom

**0o0o0o0**

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe his father would think he would fall for this! Quietly, he got up grabbing the letter and exited the campsite. He started for the cave he found the other night.

Aang sat up just as Zuko was leaving. He was getting very good at feeling vibrations in the ground whenever someone moved. Silently, he Airbended off of Appa and followed Zuko into the surrounding forest. After a little bit, Zuko came to a cave and went in. Intrigued, Aang followed him. Zuko was meditating and thinking hard, Aang could see by the beads of sweat on his forehead. He watched him for a bit, when Zuko picked up a piece of parchment and read it over and put it back down.

"What is that?" Aang said stepping out of the shadows. Zuko hurriedly stuffed the letter away.

"Nothing." Zuko quickly said. He didn't want Aang to see, because he would think he betrayed them. Aang did a quick Airbending move and got the letter from Zuko.

"No!" Zuko exclaimed.

Aang read through the letter and his mouth fell open and he dropped the letter.

"Zuko…I…I—I can't believe…" Aang stuttered in shock.

"It's not what it looks like! I would never betray you!" Zuko tried to explain.

"YOU WERE CONSIDERING KILLING KATARA AND SOKKA AND CAPTURING ME? AFTER ALL WE DID FOR YOU? AND YOU CHOSE YOUR DIGNITY OVER US? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ZUKO! IT WAS ALL A PLOY? BE FRIENDS WITH US, AND DRAG US OFF IN THE MIDDDLE OF THE NIGHT? I thought…I thought we were friends! Roku was right, you disgust me." Aang said crushing the letter in his hand and turning his back on Zuko.

"Wait, Aang!" Zuko called. Aang took off into the forest with a lightning speed. Zuko tried to catch up but he couldn't. Aang was too fast, but still he ran after Aang.

When Aang got to the campsite he woke up Katara and Sokka.

"We need to get out of here," he said bitterly.

"What? Why?" Sokka asked groggily.

"What about Zuko?" Katara asked.

"He's a piece of dirt, he betrayed us after all we did for him!" Aang shouted in anger. They didn't ask any more questions and quickly packed up, dreading Aang's wrath, and within 5 minutes they had the camp packed up and they took off. When Zuko got there, he found an empty clearing with nothing but his sleeping bag and the fire pit still cooling from the fire recently in it. Zuko cursed and let fire escape him and steam flared out his nose. They left him; they abandoned him. It wasn't they only time he had been abandoned; his family had deserted him. At least then he had Uncle to go to, now he had no one. Uncle wouldn't want him back anyways and besides he didn't even know where Uncle was. He sighed as he packed up his sleeping bag and slung it over his shoulder. He looked and saw the tree branches missing off of one tree and all the limbs were on the ground where the bison had knocked them off. He turned in the opposite way and started walking.

"Aang? What's the matter?" Katara asked softly, hanging over Appa's saddle and looking down to where Aang sat clenching the reins with white knuckles. Without a reply Aang shoved the letter in her hands and she smoothed it out. After skimming it over quickly she looked up. "I can't believe he would do something like that!" Katara hissed. "What if he wasn't considering it though? And we just left him when he wasn't even thinking about it?" Katara suggested.

"He was considering it alright! I watched him. He studied it like he was deciding to do it!" Aang accused Zuko.

"I can't believe it." Katara said again. "I don't want to believe it!"

"I don't want to either, I—I wanted Zuko to teach me Firebending." Aang sighed. "I wanted him to be our friend." Aang stared off into the star-scattered night.

**0o0o0o0**

There you go! Poor Zuzu, I want to give him a hug, I always say that when I'm watching Avatar like someone's sad or something and I'm like OMG I want to give them a hug! Anyway, please review!

-Kat and CT


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